


At(traction)

by LoudenSwainfangirl



Category: Supernatural
Genre: 2018 Louden Swain FanFic/FanArt Challenge, Cast Off song lyrics, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nurse!Gabriel - Freeform, Panic Attacks, Patient!Sam, SPN Kink Bingo 2018, Sabriel - Freeform, Teen rating for language, song prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-06
Updated: 2018-06-06
Packaged: 2019-05-18 07:35:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14848469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoudenSwainfangirl/pseuds/LoudenSwainfangirl
Summary: Inspired by the Louden Swain song Cast Off.Sam wakes to find himself in a hospital bed being cared for by a nurse he's inexplicably drawn to.Written for SPN Kink Bingo: Square filled Free Space (medical fic)





	At(traction)

**Author's Note:**

> Hey all. If you know my fics, you know I shamelessly insert Swain lyrics into EVERY fic. Well, this time I based the entire story off Cast Off.
> 
> This also fits nicely into the SPN Bingo kink for free space (medical fic).
> 
> Thank you Tricia for acting as my beta and Lisa for the fabulous artboard!!

**__ **

**_I got something in my head. A plate of steel, oh yeah they said I was almost dead_  **

**_I got something in my eye, I'd scratch it but the cast has my good hand inside._ **

  
A muffled voice - no, make that _two_ muffled voices - trickles into Sam Winchester’s muddled brain. As cliche as it is, the voices sound like the adults in a Snoopy cartoon; indistinguishable and unrecognizable. It’s the sound of a belly deep laugh that finally gives Sam the final nudge to open his eyes. The tingle of warmth the laughter gives Sam is doused out cold when sharp spikes of pain drill through his skull and seem to make his brain pulsate with each beat of his heart.

“Sun….bright,” he either speaks it or thinks the words, he isn’t entirely sure which is true as his eyes fill against the glare. He tries to turn his head away from the source of his pain but it seems to surround him.

“Sammy? Hey, hey settle down. We’re dimming the lights. Hang on.”

A pair of candy apple green eyes materializes before Sam; they’re fuzzy but he’d recognize them just as easily as he would his own. “Dean?” The burn that runs down Sam’s throat leaves little doubt he spoke his brother’s name aloud.

“I’m right here, man. Just take it easy.”

Sam tries to sit up but feels a heavy weight holding him down as his panic builds. His eyelids slam shut as he tries, without success, to sit up again. That burn returns when he lets out a gasp of air, “Dean! Dean, I can’t move-”

He feels pressure on his shoulder seconds before Dean’s voice is in his ear, “You gotta calm down man or they’re gonna put you under again. Trust me, Sammy.”

He lets out a few more gasping breaths and wills himself to settle. “Good,” his brother soothes, “knew you could do it. Now open your eyes for me.”

His lids feel weighed down and he’s afraid to be met with that blinding light again, but he pries them open all the same. This time, he’s met with a pair of eyes the color of smoked butterscotch. “Well hello there, sleeping beauty. Nice of you to join us.” The man’s features are fuzzy but there’s no mistaking the gentle undertones of his teasing.

“Who are-”

“Pay no attention to him, Sammy. Look over here.”

The pressure on his left shoulder reappears and Sam turns his neck towards Dean’s voice. Before his gaze reaches Dean, he glances down his body and the panic returns ten fold. His right arm is tucked against his body at a right angle, encased in a cast. His left leg is propped in a sling suspended from the ceiling, also in a cast.

“Dean, what the hell?” His chest feels tight and he’s unable to pull in a full breath. With effort he’s able to move his left arm but not without it sending shockwaves of pain through his body.

“Sam,” Sam’s neck swivels to his right to look at the man in red scrubs, “I’m gonna have to sedate you if you don’t calm down. Come on, take a deep breath in with me.”

“Please, don’t drug him!” Dean cries out, and it’s the desperation in his big brother’s voice that gets Sam to focus on watching the other man’s chest as it rises and falls.

The tight coil in his chest loosens moments later. “Good, I really didn’t want to have to knock you out but you gotta take it easy on your body. I’m Gabriel, I’ll be your nurse for most of today.” Gabriel pats lightly at Sam’s thigh. “Sorry we’re meeting under these circumstances.”

He looks away wearily from Gabriel. “Will someone please tell me what’s going on?” Sam punches out in a measured tone.

“What do you remember?” Dean asks him.

Sam lets his head sink into his pillow as his lids slip closed. “I remember a car on the side of the road. Uh, a woman, her hood was up. No that's not right,” he shakes his head and immediately groans at the pain. “She had a flat tire. I remember pulling over to help her and now I’m here. What happened?”

“Well, the universe told you it never pays to be a good sumaritan,” Gabriel comments as he rounds the bed and checks Sam’s IV line.

Sam doesn’t miss the withering look Dean throws the nurse before answering Sam. “Some douchebag on his cell phone hit you just as you reached the other car. The woman who you stopped to help said the car hit your leg and slammed you into her car, which is how you broke your arm and cracked two ribs.”

“That explains the elephant on my chest, but my head?” Despite the protests of the muscles of his arm, he raises it to gingerly touch the back of his head. He groans when his fingers prod over a knot roughly the size of a golf ball.

“Got lucky there, your head hit the pavement but you didn’t crack open your skull,” Dean explains as Sam’s hand drops to the bed.

“Yeah, lucky me.” _Nothing good happens to me._

“On a scale of 1-10, what’s your pain level at, Stretch?” Gabriel unravels a cord from around the fluid pole beside Sam’s bed. He drapes it behind his pillow and over his left shoulder, setting the end within easy reach of his hand.

“Five,” Sam tells him as he falls to his pillow. The room has started to spin and he feels suddenly very warm.

All joking is absent from Gabriel’s voice as he leans on the support rail of Sam’s bed and brings his face level with Sam’s. “We all know you’re a tough guy, but I need you to be honest with me. I can’t help you if you lie to me.”

Sam lets out a sigh. “Fine, eight.”

Gabriel pats at Sam’s shoulder then points to the cord. “Good man. Hit this button when you need it. It’s always better to get ahead of the pain. I can adjust the level up or down depending on how you feel.”

“No,” Sam tells him firmly, “I don’t want to pass out.”

“Damn it, Sam, and you say I’m a difficult patient,” Dean mutters to himself.

“You are,” Sam volleys back.

“Hit the button or I start up on my stand-up routine. I do a mean Richard Pryor,” Gabriel tells Sam with his arms crossed over his chest.

“For the love of all things holy, please take the drugs, Sam. I’ve already been subjected to his awful Prince and Sean Connery impersonations. Please, if you ever loved me you’ll spare me.”

He reluctantly grabs the wand and presses his thumb over the red button on the end. A quick chuckle leaves him as Dean leans back into his chair on a deep sigh of, “Finally!”

In a matter of moments, Sam feels his muscles start to relax and the feeling of floating overcomes him.

“Ah, looks like the magic juice is taking its effects,” Gabriel laughs and the warmth Sam felt prior to the pain setting in returns. Why does that sound have such an effect on him he wonders, before once again, discomfort intervenes. This time it’s a stinging in his eyes. He blinks a few times and then hears, “Here, let me help you.” A soft cloth is pressed over Sam’s closed lids before moving to his forehead, wiping away the sweat that’s been dripping in his eyes.

“Better?” he asks as his lets the cloth trail down the side of his face.

“Uh, yeah thanks. I can’t seem to get my arm to cooperate.”

“You’ve got some brutal bruises all over your body, Sam. It’s gonna take you time to heal,” Dean tells him.

“And the best way to do that is sleep, so why don’t you close those purdy eyes of yours and rest?” Gabriel tells him sternly.

Sam let's go of his last ditch effort to stay awake and finally lets the pain reliever pull him under.

 

 **_She's a pretty little catch. I like the way her hair fits right inside her nurse's cap._ ** ****  
**_Her breath smells like gum. Juicy, juicy fruit, if my jaw wasn't wired I'd have me some._ ** ****  
**_And nothing good happens to me_ ** **_  
_ ** ******_Yeah nothing good happens to me_**

The next time consciousness tugs at Sam he has a split second to think maybe it was all a bad dream. After that second passes, he’s reminded nothing good happens to him and the pain returns. But on the other hand, he thinks once his eyes gain focus… He studies the nurse standing at the foot of the bed. His hair is shaggy in that no nonsense way Sam has always liked, his facial features are sharp with a jutting chin and sloping nose, and his stance is relaxed as he writes in Sam’s chart. He’s reminded of how soft and kind his eyes were as he-

“Have you checked out all the staff like that or am I just the lucky one?” He doesn’t look Sam’s way, just continues to make his notations.

Sam lets out a snort of laughter that turns into a moan as he tries to sit up.

Gabriel’s head snaps up and he drops the chart onto its place at the end of the bed and rushes to Sam’s side. “Let the bed do the work for you,” he presses a button on the guardrail and Sam feels his back rise.

Sam’s vision swims and he feels a flash of heat course through his body as his stomach rolls. “Whoo boy, you just got as white as that sheet. Take it easy.” Gabriel’s hand feels cool against his skin as he touches the back of Sam’s neck. “I have some water here if you want a sip.”

Sam gratefully takes the straw when it’s offered. The first swallow burns but the next soothes. “Thanks,” he tells Gabriel as he pulls away from the cup.

Gabriel sets it on his tray and swings the arm so it’s over Sam’s lap. “I may be able to find you a little fan, the morphine has that effect on some patients.”

“Nah,” Sam says with a small shake of his head. “It’s not the drugs, this’s normal for me. I sweat in the snow.”

“I have the opposite problem, always cold it seems.” He opens his mouth to add to his comment, but seems to think better of it and changes course with a small shake of his head, “Hate to bug you but I gotta take your vitals, and then I can get you something to eat.”

“I don’t know if my stomach wants that right now.”

“Queasy?”

Sam swallows down a mouthful of saliva and pulls in a deep breath. “Yeah,” he sighs out as Gabriel presses two fingers to his wrist to check his pulse. Next he pulls the stethoscope off his neck and plugs the ear tips into his ears.

“Stay put,” Gabriel tells him as he starts to sit forward. “You’re fine.” He places his hand on Sam’s neck again as he moves the bell of the scope with the other. The pressure feels nice, and Sam aches a little when it leaves. Gabriel drapes the stethoscope over Sam’s fluid pump and grabs a thermometer that he pops into Sam’s mouth. Once it beeps, he removes the plastic cover and places it back on the pump. He leans over the bed and slides his fingers between Sam’s swollen fingers that hang from the cast on his right palm. “Can you squeeze my fingers?”

“Good,” he comments when Sam’s able to follow directions.

A scent hits Sam’s nose and he pulls in a sharp intake of air. “What’s that smell? Something fruity.”

Gabriel looks down at him as he checks his IV line. “Probably my gum, I can get rid of it if it’s making you want to hurl.”

Sam’s hand wraps around Gabriel’s wrist as he raises it to his mouth. “No, it’s fine. I actually kind of like it.”

“Oh, well okay. Just holler if that changes. You’d think it was rude but my boss insists.”

“Why? Seems like an odd thing.”

He shrugs his shoulder and cocks an eyebrow at Sam. “Keeps my mouth occupied so it doesn’t get me in trouble. I don’t have much of a filter.”

“I could think of a few things you could do with your mouth that’s much more fun than chewing gum.” Sam feels his face flush and he drops his bruised face into his hand. “Oh my God, I can’t believe I just said that.” He’s mortified and only removes his hand when he feels a gentle tug on his wrist. 

Gabriel treating him to another belly laugh makes Sam feel better than ten hits of morphine ever could. “Maybe you should take a piece...of gum,” he smirks down at Sam. “That’s exactly the kind of thing I’d say.”

“I’m blaming the drugs,” Sam replies with a shake of his head. “Hey, where’d Dean go?” he asks as he notices his brother’s absence for the first time.

“I chased him out of here to get something to eat. He’s hasn’t left your side since he was called in. He seems like good people.”

“Yeah,” Sam sighs as he toys with the pain cord. “He really is. I got lucky.”

“Seems you both got lucky,” Gabriel comments as he walks towards the door. With his hand on the handle he turns back to Sam. “Push the button and rest. I’ll be back soon.”

 

**_Baby I'm shakin' when you take care of me, but it's alright, yeah it's alright._ **

**_Maybe I'll make it out, we'll just have to see._ ** **_  
_ ** **_It's alright, yeah it's alright._ **

 

The next person to walk through his door is Dean, not Gabriel, and Sam feels a slight tug of disappointment that’s quickly covered by guilt because he really is happy to see his brother.

“Hey, you’re up. I just ran into Gabriel, he said he was in to check on you and you were sawing logs.”

“Oh.” Again with the disappointment. Sam doesn’t understand it and he tries his best to cover it up. “Uh, yeah I’m up.”

Dean slides a food tray onto Sam’s table and studies Sam’s face. “He said you were having a rough time while I was gone.”

Sam waves his hand in the air with a, “Eh, I’m fine,” then pulls up the silver dome covering a plate. “Ooh, I see we have gourmet,” Sam says as he eyes up the dry toast and scrambled eggs. He attempts to reach for the cup of apple juice but stops short when pain radiates over the left side of his ribcage and wraps around to his spine. He lets out a loud, “Ahh,” and falls back against the bed.

“Uh huh, yeah, totally fine,” Dean tells him as he picks up the juice, pulls off the foil cover then holds it out for Sam to take in his left hand. “Look on the bright side,” Dean tells him as he sips the juice, “could’ve broken your dominant arm.”

Sam holds the small plastic cup up in mock cheers and chooses to ignore the way his whole arm trembles. “Got me there, Dean. So have they told you how long I’ve gotta be in here? And where is here anyway?”

“General Hospital, but for the time being, you’re in the long term care wing.”

“Time being?”

“Yeah, once you’re able to get yourself out of bed and into a chair then you can come home with me.”

“No,” Sam shakes his head. “I can’t do that to you Dean. You and Cas each work and you have the kids.” He gives his head another firm shake. “No, I’ll stay here.”

“Sam-”

“No, Dean. I love you for offering but I just can’t do that to you all. Speaking of, you need to get home.” He holds his hand up when Dean shakes his head. “Yes, go. I’m fine, I’m just going to sleep anyway. These freaking drugs make me feel awful.”

“So stubborn,” Dean sighs as he leans down to give Sam a light hug.

“Yeah, yeah,” Sam replies with a smile. “Hey, send my love to Cas and the boys.”

“I will, they’re anxious to see you.”

“Dean, I don’t want them to see me like this. I haven’t looked in the mirror but if my arm is any indication how my face looks I’m just going to scare them.”

“We’ll talk about that later. Is there anything I can get you?” Alright,” he says when Sam shakes his head. “Rest up and stop making doe eyes at your nurse. Oh!” he adds as a thought occurs to him, “And don’t drink the coffee on your tray, the coffee here sucks.”

“What? D-Dean I-” Sam stammers, doe eyes? Has he really been that obvious?

“I see all Sammy,” he says with a wink at Sam before leaving the room.

Sam sags against his pillow and stares at the food mocking him from his plate. _Well damn_ , he thinks as he hits the buttons on the guardrail that control the television.

He’s on his second unsuccessful go round of channel surfing and he’s trying desperately to ignore the hammer pounding behind his eyeballs when there’s a knock at the door and Gabriel walks in. He’s wearing a pair of well worn jeans that are snug in all the right places, a black t-shirt, and a blue leather jacket is slung over his arm.

“Sleeping Beauty is awake!” he says with a flourish as he sets an insulated cup onto Sam’s tray.

“Do you call all your bedridden patients that?” Sam asks as he turns the television off.

“It’d be inappropriate to tell you I only call my favorite patients by anything other than their given name, so I’m not going to. I’m just going to put a piece of gum in my mouth.”

Before Sam is even able to try to decipher what that means, Gabriel drops several white envelopes next to the insulated cup. “Your brother told me you prefer tea but we don’t carry, quote girly smelling stuff unquote, so I brought you a few to choose from. If you’d like something else, let me know.”

Sam tries and fails to hide his groan as he reaches forward, but unlike his previous attempt he succeeds in reaching the tray. “You didn’t have to make a special trip here for me, it looks like you’re off duty.” He uses his teeth to tear open the tea bag and sits forward, _again_ , to drop it in his cup that now seems very far away.

“Let me help you with that, Stretch. One, I’m a nurse. I’m never off duty because it’s in my nature. And two, I had to stop by to check on you. I told you already, you’re my favorite.”

“I thought that was inappropriate.”

“Eh, screw it, I’m off duty,” he states as he drops the tea bag into Sam’s cup.

Sam laughs over his obvious contradiction. “Thank you, this was nice of you.”

“Hey, speaking of, where did Dean-o go?”

“I sent him home, he’s got a husband and my two nephews to be with. I didn’t want to keep him from them anymore.” Sam’s gaze falls upon Gabriel’s jacket and just like that he isn’t feeling the greatest. He’s almost thirty years old and suddenly he’s afraid of spending the night alone. “He, uh offered to s-stay but I insisted he leave. Which I should really do with you. I’m sure,” he pauses to catch his breath, (why is it so hard to breathe?) “you had a really long shift and you have s-someone waiting for you.” He tries to smile at Gabriel but the muscles in his face just aren’t in the game.

“Sam?”

He pulls in a stuttering breath but it’s not enough. His peripheral vision starts to get fuzzy and every muscle in his body seems to scream at him at once as he tries to sit up in the bed. His right arm lifts off his stomach for the first time and now there’s a new kind of pain to deal with.

Gabriel pushes aside the table and sits on the edge of the bed. He places one hand on Sam’s chest and grabs a hold of Sam’s free hand with the other. “Hey, hey, no need to get yourself all worked up, Sleeping Beauty.” He rubs small but firm circles on Sam’s chest. “Hey bud, look at me. _Sam!_ ”

Sam follows his orders and fights to keep his focus on the smoked butterscotch. Gabriel raises their locked hands and places them over his own chest. “Feel that?” Gabriel takes an exaggerated breath and Sam thinks he may nod his head. “Now it’s your turn,” he hears before he feels a tap to his chest.

Sam hasn’t a clue how long they remain locked together but eventually his chest loosens and his vision clears. “I don’t know what the hell that was all about, but thanks.”

“That, my friend,” Gabriel says as he reaches for Sam’s tea, “was a panic attack. Here, drink this, I think it’s cooled down enough.”

Sam’s arm feels like it weighs ten pounds and it’s shaking something fierce, but he’s able to weakly grasp the cup and raise it to his lips. The warm liquid is soothing and the tart lemon scent helps to further clear his brain. “Really? I’ve never had one before.”

“Bet you’ve never been hit by a car before either,” Gabriel comments as he slides his fingers over Sam’s wrist. “Your pulse is back to normal. You know, it’s okay to not be okay. You’ve been through a lot in the last 24 hours.” He reaches for his scope still hanging on Sam’s fluid pump, and plugs the earbuds in, but holds Sam’s gaze as he listens to his chest.

Sam breaks the hold and stares down at the road rash and smattering of bruises over his bare arm. “I shouldn’t complain, I made it out alright.”

“Sam, at the risk of sounding like an after school special, I’m going to say this once: this here’s a safe place for you.” Sam’s eyes track Gabriel’s hand as it gestures between their chests. He also wonders why he finds it so jarring to hear him speak his real name. “It’s okay to be scared, and it’s okay to miss your family, and it’s okay to ask for help. Now squeeze my fingers.”

Sam follows his orders and watches him as he gets off the bed and moves to stand in front of his suspended leg. “Now wiggle your toes.” This takes more of an effort on Sam’s part but he does it. He wiggles them again when Gabriel curls his hand over the toes peeking out. “Nice and warm, good. I see you’re ticklish.”

“Should I be concerned over that gleam in your eye?”

He picks up Sam’s chart. “Maybe,” he says with a smirk. He makes a few notes, then hangs it back on the end of the bed.

“I asked Dean but he never answered me. How long am I gonna be in here?”

Gabriel snags a piece of toast off of Sam’s tray and plops down into the seat to Sam’s left and takes a bite. “Minimum of six weeks but I think your leg will need longer.” He lets out a long whistle which makes toast crumbs spray out of his mouth. “That leg of your’s, whoa.”

“Help yourself, by the way.” Sam shifts in the bed and he lets out a gasp over an unexpected tug in an hypersensitive area. “And how long do I have to have this, this thing in my-”

He expects Gabriel to laugh at his discomfort, but when his face shows nothing but empathy, Sam does a double take. “Evil necessity, I’m afraid. Orders have been written to get you up out of bed tomorrow. If you can handle that, then they’ll pull the catheter.”

“Thank goodness for small favors,” he mutters.

“How’s the pain?”

Sam takes a moment to take stock of his body. “Everywhere, but uh, level’s a seven I guess, but please don’t say it.” He knows he should take the pain relief but the idea of being out of control doesn’t sit well with Sam.

Gabriel leans over and pulls Sam’s tray back over his lap. “Fine, I won’t. Instead I’m going to say eat that toast.”

“Why, you want to be holding my puke bucket as well? I don’t know if I can eat.”

“First off,” Gabriel says as he picks up the bread and holds it in front of Sam’s mouth, “you’d probably dry heave which would irritate the hell out of those cracked ribs. And second of all,” he gives the toast a little wave and Sam feels like batting it away like a petulant child, but he refrains. “I have a standing order to switch you to oral pain meds, but I can’t do that until you’re eating solid food. Humor me and eat the damn bread!”

Sam scowls at him but he eats the damn bread. He finds he’d be willing to eat an entire loaf if it means seeing the look of triumph currently on Gabriel’s face. He’s also happy the food seems to settle without a fight.

“So what were ya watching, Stretch?” Gabriel asks as he looks up at the blank television screen.

“Nothing good, I think I’ll pass on watching anything tonight.”

“Head hurt?”

How did he know? “Yeah. Don’t say it!,” he exclaims on a laugh when Gabriel stares him down, eyes wide and nostrils actually flaring.

“Not sayin a word.” He gives his head a shake and pulls at his coat that’s draped over his chair.

“Uh, thanks for coming by,” Sam tells him, hoping his voice doesn’t betray the melancholy he’s feeling. _Nothing good happens to me._

“You kicking me out, Sambo?”

“No!” Sam cries with more relief that he wishes he felt. “I just figured you’ve had a long day, you’re probably dead on your feet, and you have someone waiting for you at home.”

“I have tomorrow off, and the only thing I have waiting for me at home is an overused copy of Casa Erotica 13.” He searches through his pockets and pulls out a thick, paperback book. “How do you feel about King?” Gabriel flashes the cover at Sam before flinging his coat back over his chair.

“He’s one of my favorites, but Gabriel, I don’t think I could read right no-”

“You insult my intelligence, Sampson.” He gets up and dims the lights of the room. “I’m gonna read _to_ you. Tell me, from the beginning or pick a page?”

“Wherever you left off is fine.”

“There is no end with this book, as far as I’m concerned. I keep it in my locker so I always have something good to read on my rarely occurring lunch breaks. So I ask again, beginning or pick a page?”

Sam settles back against his pillow, dumbfounded. He said he keeps it in his locker and he’s headed home now. Does this mean he brought it to Sam’s room with the intention of staying to visit? “Um,” he stammers out when he realizes he hasn’t answered him. “Pick a page, I know _The Stand_ backwards and forwards.” Sam presses the button to dispense the pain and misses the smile Gabriel gives him.

Gabriel gives Sam a curt nod then flips through the book. The words of the story are lost on Sam as he focuses on the rise and fall of Gabriel’s voice. For the first time since waking that morning, Sam finds himself relaxed. He forgets the throbbing of his head, the sharp piercing stabs with every breath, the aching in his muscles and the hot, weighted feel of each cast. He doesn’t think about how easily he could’ve died today or how he’s now going to be living at the mercy of people in scrubs, unable to bathe or even take a piss without help.

All that melts away as this stranger - this stranger that Sam feels like he’s known his whole life - reads to him. He reads to him not because he’s on the clock and feels obligated to do so but because, maybe, he feels the same about him. As his eyes grow heavy, Sam has hope he’s gonna make it out. Yeah, it’s alright. _I’m alright_.

  
**_The sun comes up and I'm alive. She holds the door as the throng of visitors arrive._ ** ****  
**_And when it's dusk she brings me treats. The jello's old and warm but her face is young and oh so sweet._ ** ****  
**_And nothing good happens to me_ ** **_  
_ ** ******_Yeah nothing good happens to me_**

 

The sun rises, bringing with it a new day for Sam. The visitor chairs flanking Sam’s bed are empty, but when he glances down to curse the white plaster encasing two of his limbs, his jaw becomes unhinged. In thick black strokes is a picture of a crow and (what Sam assumes is) a moon. Underneath the form of Randall Flagg are the words, “M-O-O-N, that spells Nurse Naughty.” Sam shakes his head with a grin and thinks at least he didn’t draw a dick. His arm has a drawing of a figure wearing a crown, sleeping in a bed. Yup, he thinks, much better than a dick.

Every time his door opens he wishes it were Gabriel even though he knows it’s his day off. He settles his loneliness by looking at his casts. He finds it endearing that Gabriel did that for him after he fell asleep. 

His nurse for the day is a cute blonde named Jessica. His body still betrays him when she removes his urinary catheter but he figures it could have been worse. He’s able to eat more breakfast and he’s rewarded with the removal of his IV and a switch to an oral pain medication. He still gets that spacey feeling in his head, but it’s an improvement nonetheless.

All day long he’s subjected to an endless stream of doctors, residents, and nurses all checking his vitals and asking the same questions regarding his comfort level. His surgeon, a Dr. Crowley, stops by while Dean in visiting and fills them in on more of the details regarding his fractures. He lets Sam know his arm was a clean break and should be ready to come out of the cast in six weeks. His leg, just as Gabriel had warned him, will more than likely need more time but he’ll be able to get out on his own once his arm is free.

After Dean leaves to have dinner with his family, Jessica gets him up and into a wheelchair for a short spin around the halls. By the time they get back to the room, Sam is exhausted, and it isn’t long before his head hits the pillow and he’s asleep.

When he next opens his eyes, it’s dark outside his window. His first thought is to wonder how he was able to sleep so long without being woken for a vital check. The second is the feeling he isn’t alone. Sam rolls his head on the pillow and blinks. Gabriel is sitting in a visitor’s chair, reading a book with earbuds in. The same worn and tattered book he’d read to Sam from the night before.

Just as he’s opening his mouth to say Gabriel’s name, he lifts his head and notices Sam’s awake. His cheeks rise with a wide grin and his eyes dance. “Well hey there, Sleeping Beauty.” He pops his ear buds out and flicks across his phone screen.

“Hey, Gabriel. What, uh, what are you doin’ here? I thought you had today off.”

“I _wish_ I could get off today,” Gabriel responds with a wagging of his eyebrows. “No, I’m not scheduled but I had to stop in for...a thing... and while I was here I thought I’d come say hi.”

“A thing, huh?” Sam asks skeptically.

“Yup, a thing,” he repeats. “So I hear you got the old drain removed and you had a sponge bath. I’m a professional so I’m not going to tell you I’m sorry I missed that.”

“Good, cause I’m all out of gum,” Sam tells him as he feels his cheeks heat.

“Did you order down for dinner yet? Kitchen’s going to close soon.”

“Nah, I’m not all that hungry.”

“I brought you something.” Sam watches him as he reaches into his coat pocket and pulls out what looks like a candy bar. For one horrifying second Sam thinks he’s going to toss it at him. He’s relieved when he leans over and hands Sam the Snickers bar. “I didn’t know what you liked, hell you probably don’t even like junk food but…”

“No, this is great, thank you,” Sam assures him after his words fade.

“Just don’t tell the nursing staff. I hear they’re a bunch of assholes.”

Sam tears open the candy bar with his teeth then takes a bite. “You’re wrong, they’re fantastic here. There’s one in particular that I kind of think is really great.”

“Hmm, really?” Gabriel asks with an upward swing of his voice.

“Yeah,” Sam nods his head and sets the chocolate onto his table. He isn’t able to keep a straight face as he adds, “Her name’s Jessica, maybe you’ve heard of her.”

“You’re lucky you’re weak and injured there, Winchester,” Gabriel grins. “Alright,” he says as he picks up the receiver of Sam’s room phone. “I’m pulling rank and ordering you food so you should let me know what you want.”

Sam sighs. Knowing it’s a losing battle, he tells Gabriel his order. When Sam’s dinner arrives, he pushes his tray between the two of them and is pleased when Gabriel first snags a piece of melon off his tray, followed by a chunk of chicken from his salad.

After a long, easy conversation with Gabriel, his day ends in the same way it did the day before, with Gabriel reading to him as he drops off into an exhausted sleep with a happy heart.

 

 **_Baby I'm shakin' when you take care of me but it's alright, yeah it's alright._ ** ****  
**_Maybe I'll make it out we'll just have to see. It's alright, yeah it's alright_ ** ****  
**_I will recover in the same way I learned to ride my bike, I was five_ ** ****  
****  
**_The day it finally arrives, the cast comes off and I am no longer mummified_ ** ****  
**_And there she is but there she goes. Another patient rolls in just as the door swings closed_  .** ****  
**_And nothing good happens to me_ ** ****  
**_Yeah nothing good happens to me_ **

The calendar continues to flip through the days for Sam. Some days he’s bored out of his mind, but others are filled with visits from Dean, Cas, and his nephews. The woman he had stopped to help even stops in with flowers. The one constant with each day is Gabriel. He’s still Sam’s primary caregiver but he takes to sharing his lunch break with Sam even if they’ve seen each other several times in a day, and he always stops by to visit on his days off. By the time seven weeks have passed, they’ve finished _The Stand_ and Gabriel has started to read the second book in the _Dark Tower_ series.

The day has finally arrived and Dr. Crowley has given the all clear to remove the cast from Sam’s arm. He’s experiencing an entire array of emotions. He’s excited and anxious to go home be able sleep in his own bed, make his own food, and use the bathroom without an audience hovering outside the door... but he’s also apprehensive, and quite frankly, sad about it. He knows he’s going to miss seeing Gabriel’s lopsided grin as he teases him. He’ll miss trying his best every day to make Gabriel laugh, and he most definitely will miss the sound of his voice as he reads to Sam or tells him stories of his life. And the gum. He’s going to miss the soft snapping of his gum and the fruity smell that seems to cling to him even when he isn’t chewing any.

He knows without a doubt he’s developed feelings for Gabriel, and there’ve been so many instances when Sam wanted to tell him but something always stopped him. More often than not it was the fear his feelings weren't reciprocated and he was more anxious over the thought of losing their friendship than not being able to take that next step with Gabriel.

Gabriel and Dean are both present as the resident fires up the blade to remove the cast. “I wonder if my arm will even remember how to work,” Sam comments as the saw takes the last bite of the cast. The pieces of plaster, now covered in signatures and drawings from Gabriel and his nephews, falls away to reveal a shriveled looking arm.

“It’s just like riding a bike, Stretch,” Gabriel tells him. His hand rests lightly on Sam’s left shoulder as he leans down and around Sam’s right shoulder and says, “Let me help you out.” He curls his fingers into claws and scratches up and down the length of Sam’s forearm.

Sam should be embarrassed, but he finds he isn’t when his head drops against Gabriel’s waist and he lets out a soft groan. The itchy skin has been maddening and this is heavenly.

“Alright you two, get a room already!” Dean teases as Sam tentatively straightens his arm and Gabriel steps back behind Sam with a grin.

He feels stiff but no pain. The four watch closely as he opens and closes his fist. “Looks good,” the resident tells him as he prods at Sam’s pale arm. “We’ll see you again in two weeks for more films of your leg. Give yourself a week before trying the crutches, but don’t over do it - those muscles are going to be weak.”

“Come on, Sammy, let’s break you outta here!” Gabriel steps to the side to allow Dean to grab ahold of the handles. He spins his chair around and stops when Gabriel steps in front of him.

“So this is the moment when the music swells and we gaze into each other’s eyes and confess our undying love for each other, right Stretch?” Gabriel’s arms are crossed over his chest as he bounces on the balls of his feet.

“I think it’s rather obvious that my answer is y-”

“Ah, shit!” Gabriel pouts as he pulls his vibrating phone from the breast pocket of his pink scrub top. “I have a new patient and they’re calling me now.” He heaves a big sigh as he bends down and braces his hands on the arms of Sam’s wheelchair. He’s close enough for Sam’s sinuses to fill with the familiar sweet scent of Gabriel’s Juicy Fruit gum. “I’d say don’t be a stranger but that wouldn’t be very nice considering where we are.”

“Thank you, Gabriel. I don’t know if I would’ve gotten through this without you.”

“Sure you would’ve, you don’t give yourself enough credit.” Gabriel stands and waves his hand toward the door. “Go on and get out of here. I’ll see you in two weeks.”

Sam pulls in a shaky breath and gives Gabriel a weak smile. “Yeah, okay, I guess I’ll see you then.” Gabriel lets his hand graze over Sam’s neck as Dean pushes him out of the room and Sam doesn’t fight the shiver that runs through his body. _I’m shakin when you take care of me._

Once outside, Sam inhales sharply as he fights the emotions rolling through him. For a brief moment, Sam had believed something good was going to happen to him. But alas, he thinks, _nothing good happens to me._

A hand clamps over his shoulder and Sam glances up, expecting to see Dean start to tease him. But he doesn’t see Dean when he looks up. What he sees is a pair of smoked butterscotch eyes under a furrowed brow. “You forgot something, Sleeping Beauty.”

Gabriel glances once over his shoulder then bends at the waist, “This.”

Sam lets out an “ _Umph,_ ” sound as Gabriel presses his lips firmly to Sam’s mouth. He barely has time to press back before the warm pressure is gone, leaving Sam’s lips tingling and wanting more. “And this,” Gabriel tells a stunned Sam as he picks up his limp hand, sets a piece of paper in his palm then curls his fingers over a phone number. “I’m free every evening this week.” He gives Sam a final wink before turning on his heel and disappearing into the hospital.

“Way to go, Little Brother,” Dean says proudly as he pushes Sam down the sidewalk.

 _Yeah_ , Sam thinks as the memory of the feel of Gabriel’s lips lingers, _it’s alright_.  
  
**_Baby I'm shakin' when you take care of me but it’s alright, yeah it’s alright._ **


End file.
